FEELING hungry and faced with a few uninspiring chain restaurants, my friend and I decided to ask a local on where best to eat in Gloucester, and who better than the woman in the Tourist Information Centre?

“Do you like Thai food?” she asked, and we nodded enthusiastically. “There’s a nice little place across the way there. You can’t miss it... it’s inside a metal box.”

Well, she was right on one thing. There was no mistaking Vinings Warehouse, with its bold, modern exterior. It is indeed inside a metal box – a rusty one, in fact – but in a contemporary, stylish way. It certainly held plenty of promise from the outside.

But inside, I’m sorry to say, we were left slightly disappointed.

The decor is pleasant and we were awarded some of the best seats in the house, next to the giant feature window overlooking the rejuvenated docks.

The staff were also delightful. Our waiter was beside himself when he discovered we were from Swindon – his former home town – and spent 10 minutes or so chatting to us about landmarks and places he remembered, while he served us our complimentary prawn crackers and poppadoms.

It was only when we finished chatting and stepped up to choose our food that the disappointment set in.

Vinings adopts the all-you-can-eat buffet style of dining. Lunches cost £7.95 Monday to Friday and £8.95 at weekends, while dinner is £13.50 Monday to Thursday and Sunday, and £14.95 on Fridays and Saturdays.

Anyone who has visited Swindon’s Cosmo restaurant will know the concept. Dishes are arranged on a hot plate in groupings of starters and main courses, with accompaniments dotted around the sides. Help yourself to as little or as much as you like and return to the buffet as many times as your stomach can handle.

Unfortunately, the similarities to Cosmo end there.

We found an unusual mix of Indian and Thai (although mostly Indian), which saw pakoras lined up next to spring rolls, and naan bread next to noodles.

We began with some Thai Tom Yum soup, which we found a little heavy on the lemon grass and salt. A couple of mouthfuls was enough.

That was followed by chicken tikka and some little Thai chicken cakes, which tasted fine but weren’t especially hot. Strangely, you could also load up with chips with your starters, but we gave that a miss.

The main courses – around a dozen in all – were also predominantly Indian. I was a bit put off by the hand-written signs announcing the dishes, which seemed a little unprofessional, but decided to try a wide selection anyway.

The jalfrezi was nice and spicy, and I liked the flavour of the tarka dhal, but most of the rest seemed much of a muchness. Filling, but not especially satisfying.

Dessert comprised a couple of cakes and some ice cream, which seemed to be going down well with the fellow diners.

We tried a slice of a plum tart between us, which was edible if still slightly frozen in the centre, then decided to call it a day and head for the shops.

At £7.95 each, the bill was fairly reasonable, but had this been a Saturday night instead of a Tuesday lunchtime, I’m not sure I’d have wanted to pay as much as £14.95.

Gloucester Docks is undergoing a massive development and, when finished, will include a whole range of new waterside bars and restaurants. Next time I visit, however, I’ll opt for one of the chain restaurants nearby and give the rusty box a miss.